The Story of Us
by phsquared
Summary: Just another typical Teenage Castle story. Hope that I did the characters justice.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Hi guys. If you are reading this, I am really appreciative! I just had this idea sitting in the back of my mind for the longest time, but just now found a little bit of time to actually write. I already have a basic outline of what I want to happen, but haven't written everything out yet. So if anyone enjoys helping fellow writers out, any help would be much appreciated. But only if you want to!

Unfortunately I don't own anything, though I wish I did.

Thank you for your time.

This is the moment she has been waiting for. After spending two months running her heart out for the cross country team, Kate Beckett's time to shine was here. High school soccer tryouts. The official tryouts were scheduled for three o'clock that afternoon, but because she was already enrolled in sixth period athletics, she sat on the sidelines as she watched all of the returners warming up. She pretended to read one of her textbooks, feeling a little awkward about watching their practice. She was halfway through a chapter talking about the heart in her health class textbook when a shadow covered her. She looked up to see her Biology teacher standing a couple of feet in front of her.

"Kate, do you want to join in since you are already here? I'm sure the girls wouldn't mind."

She looks up and says with a nervous look on her face, "Uhh sure."

So she puts her cleats on, takes one last swig of water, and follows Coach Montgomery towards the practice.

#######

Two and a half hours later, she headed to the parking lot to meet her mom. Rounding the corner of the science building, she runs into someone. Everything in her arms goes flying to the ground and the person who ran into her immediately falls to the ground and starts to pick all of her things up.

"I am so sorry. I wasn't paying attention." He says, handing her books back. She looks up after pulling the books to her chest and sees the brownest pair of eyes she has ever seen.

"It's okay." She stumbles over. Why was she acting like this? She has never stumbled over her words just because there is a cute guy talking to her.

"I'm Will by the way." He says as his smile reaches the corners of his eyes.

"Kate." She says shaking his hand, noticing for the first time, just how cute his dimples were. As they shook hands, she couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have the most beautiful eyes?" Will asks still holding her hand, slowly rubbing the back of it with his thumb, soothing her.

Kate ducked her head and blushed before retracting her hand and saying, "No."

"Well you do." He says before continuing with, "It was nice meeting you Kate."

She watches as he walks by her and then heads to her mom's car with a smile on her face hoping that she would get to see Mr. Brown Eyes again.

When Kate opens the door, and climbs into her mom's car, Johanna can immediately tell that something happened. "Tryouts go that well?"

"They did go pretty well, but that's not why I am so happy."

"Well then spill honey!"

"I was rounding the corner by my health class when someone ran into me. He picked everything up and then said I had beautiful eyes." Kate explained excitedly with that glossed look in her eyes.

"Did he apologize to running into my little angel?" Her mother asked pulling into the traffic.

"Yeah. He was really sweet." Kate blushed. Why was she acting like this? Kate had never felt like this before because while she had her fair share of guys ask her out, she never actually said yes to any of them. So why all of a sudden was she acting like she really wanted to go out with someone she just met?

"Well then, I like him."

"Me too mom. Me too."

########

Days went by and the tryouts went extremely well. She had made it through the first two cuts with ease and even impressing most of the seniors, but she had yet to see Will again. And while she knew that the school was pretty large, it put her in a sour mood. She couldn't stop thinking about those brown eyes. So, walking into her Second Period Spanish Class, she nodded to the professor and took her seat, and right after the bell rang and she took out her notebook, the door opened and a young man walked in.

"Ahhh, you must be Richard Rogers. Welcome to Spanish One." Ms. J said warmly. "Let's see, who is the lucky oddball in this class. Ahh, Ms. Beckett. Looks like you finally have a partner." Ms. J nodded to her and with one look at the smug smile on Richard's face, she knew she was in trouble. While Will's brown eyes were truly breathtaking, they could never compare to the set of bright blue ones staring right back at her.

Making his way over to the seat open next to Beckett, he smirked the whole way. When he takes his seat, he turns to her with a smirk and says, "Rick Rodgers. Nice to meet you."

In her mind, Kate was wondering what she ever did to deserve this. All she wanted was to get through the class without having to worry about another cute boy, especially when she already had her eyes set on one with brown eyes.

Ignoring him and his bright blue eyes, she opens her notebook and begins to take notes as Ms. J begins her lecture. Feeling something brush her arm, she looks down to see a note balancing on her forearm. Picking it up she slowly opens it and reads it.

 _I told you my name, isn't it customary to return the favor?_

Reading his note, all she could think about were the blue eyes that belonged to the author of this particular note. Oh god, snap out of it Kate! You should be thinking about brown eyes, not blue.

She chanced a glance over at him, but to her surprise she found him looking back up at the front of the classroom, so she picked up her pencil and replied trying to be strong and figuring if she was mean to him, he wouldn't take another pass at her.

 _Kate. But that's all you are getting. Now please leave me alone._

And so when Ms. J had turned to write down something on the board, she quickly tosses the folded up piece of paper back to him. Not even a minute had gone by when she felt the same brush against her elbow and saw that the folded up paper was once again on her desk.

 _Ouch. Has anyone ever told you that you have the most beautiful eyes? I have never seen eyes so hazel before._

Rick chanced a glance at the beautiful girl sitting next to him while she read the note and his smile grew even bigger when he saw the slight blush creep across her face. That was a good sign right? She was smiling and blushing?

 _Actually someone has. But it's not like I have to justify anything to you._

After handing back the note and hearing the bell ring, Kate gathers her things and quickly leaves the classroom heading towards the science quad. Hopefully by leaving so quickly, she could control her emotions enough not to let the little inkling get any bigger. So when Rick looks up after reading her response, she is nowhere to be found.

########

Bio has come and gone, the only excitement that happened in that forty-two minutes was when she got a sneak peek at the final cuts for the Girls' Soccer Program. She had made varsity. She had made varsity as a freshman, and on top of that, she was the only freshmen.

Kate was so wrapped up in trying to text her mom the really good news that she wasn't paying attention when she rounded the corner and ran into someone. She hadn't realized it was the same corner that she had run into Will at.

Immediately looking up to apologize she saw the same set of brown eyes that she had seen after the first day of tryouts. "Will? Hi." Kate said surprised.

"Kate, how are you?" Will asks smiling down at her.

Fighting a blush, Kate says, "Really good. I made Varsity."

"Well then a congratulations is in order." Will says, making Kate blush once again as he takes a step forward and gives her a short hug.

"Thank you." Kate says looking down, about to turn and leave but stops herself and says, "Hey, do you want to go out sometime?"

"Yeah Kate. I would. How's Friday?" Will asks as Kate mentally checks her calendar for the next night.

"That works perfect." She says pulling out a note card and writing her number on it with a heart dotting the i in Katie.

"Great, thanks." Will says taking the note card, giving her a wink, and starting to turn around. "I'll call you."

Kate nods her head before heading into her fourth period class. Taking her normal seat next to one of the only friends she has, she turns to face Lanie with the biggest grin on her face.

"Girl just spill already!" Lanie says not even looking up from her notebook.

"I made varsity!" Kate practically shouted which got Lanie to look up at her.

"Oh my god! Congrats Girl!" She says giving Kate a quick hug before realizing that maybe that wasn't the only thing she wanted to share. "Okay, now what else is there? Because the look on your face is telling me that you are in dire need to share something that doesn't have to do with soccer."

"I may or may not have a date tomorrow." She says slightly blushing while running through the conversation she just had, which makes her smile grow even bigger.

"So, who's the guy?"

"His name is Will." Kate says thinking about the beautiful brown eyes.

"As in Will Sorenson?" Lanie asks concerned, "The tenth grader?"

"He's a sophomore? I didn't know." Kate says turning back in her seat to face the front of the class when he walks in. "Fuck."

"I know he's older, but I don't think your parents are going to care. They are awesome!" Lanie says still looking at Kate confused about the sudden change in mood.

"Huh, what?" She says finally looking back at her best friend.

"I said that I didn't think your parents would mind." Lanie said confused, "What's wrong?"

"Him." She says coldly looking across the room to where a young man was standing talking to Mr. S.

"Oohh who's this piece of hotness?" She asks turning back to Kate.

"The name's Rick Rodgers. Nice to meet you." A voice says behind Lanie that has a chill go up Kate's back.

"Also known as the pain in my ass." Kate mumbles under her breath as Mr. S starts his lecture.

As Rick took his seat on the opposite side of Kate, Lanie leaned over and whispered in Kate's ear, "Who is this guy?"

Kate ignored her for a couple of seconds before Lanie nudged her elbow encouraging her to speak. "Fine, he's new I think. Ms. J assigned him as my partner. He wouldn't leave me alone all period. Even after I asked him to."

"You guys know that I am sitting right here right?" Rick says with a quiet cough to get their attention.

Kate looked over at him, and rolled her eyes, a little upset about him ruining her great mood. She then went back to taking notes about the flow of blood through the heart. But even though she tried her very best to concentrate on the health lesson, those blue eyes just would not leave her mind.

########


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, so here is the second chapter of my story. I think it kinda went a little different way than I had first imagined, but it still covers everything that I wanted it to cover.

CHAPTER 2

Walking into his second period class, Rick decides that even though she seemed to hate him, there was something about her that intrigued him. And there was nothing that could stop him from finding out what it was. So he took his seat next to her, opened his notebook, tore out a blank page, and started to write.

 _Kate, I know that you probably don't care much for me and think that I am annoying. And I apologize for yesterday. I should have given you your space when you asked. But if you give me the chance, I promise that I will show you that I am actually a pretty nice guy. So if you want to see a movie or grab some dinner sometime this weekend, I would be honored if you chose me to join you. - RR_

When he was done, he folded it up nicely in the shape of a heart, and passed it on. He took a deep breath, and gave all his focus on the whiteboard as Mrs. J started to pass back some papers.

When Mrs. J headed back to her desk to start up the projector for her latest lecture, Rick found that Kate had returned his note. He took another deep breath and opened the letter.

 _I'm sorry about yesterday. I was in a bad mood and I didn't mean to take it out on you. It was wrong of me, and I apologize. But I can't accept an invitation from you. I'm sorry. However, you do seem like a nice guy, so if you would like, you can hang out with my friends in here at lunch. - Kate_

Feeling slightly rejected, but still determined to figure her out, Rick put his pride aside and decided to take her up on her offer.

Quickly responding to her note while trying to pay attention to the complex language that Mrs. J was speaking proved to be harder than Rick thought it would be. But he was determined to master it.

 _I would love to eat lunch with you guys. And it's okay, I get it._

The note never comes back to him, so when the bell rings, he makes his way to the math quad, with a little less hop in his step.

########

When Rick enters his health class he sees Kate and Lanie giggling. Curious as always, he quickly walks up to them and asks, "Whatcha girls talking about?"

Kate immediately freezes, but before she has a chance to say anything, Lanie speaks up. "We were talking about Kate's date tonight."

Confused, Rick looks at Kate wondering if she changed her mind, but never got the chance to ask. Mr. S starts his lecture interrupting Rick's thoughts as Kate gives him a sad and apologetic look.

He doesn't understand. If she decided to possibly give him a chance, why did she give him such a sad look? He ran through almost every scenario his imaginative mind could come up with instead of listening to Mr. S go on and on about the flow of blood through the heart and lungs.

He finally comes out of his thoughts, forty minutes later when he hears his classmates packing up around him. He turns to Kate and asks, "Can we talk real fast?"

"Uhh, yeah sure." She says zipping up her bag. "What's up Rick?"

"You have a date?" Rick asks, nervously rubbing his hands together. "Did you change your mind?"

"I'm sorry Rick. I said no because I already had a date. I should have just told you. I'm sorry." Kate says looking down at her feet, letting her hair cover her face. Part of her ashamed, part of her embarrassed.

Rick nodded his head, trying to put a smile on his face. He quickly says, "It's okay."

Nodding his head once again, he finishes packing up and quickly exits the classroom, leaving Kate standing there confused. Where was he going? He was supposed to eat lunch with them.

########

Now without a place to eat lunch, Rick heads to his next class and takes a seat in front of a set of lockers just to the left of the door. He starts to pull out his lunch from in his backpack when he hears a cough coming from in front of him. He looks up suddenly and what he sees shocks him.

"Excuse me." The soft voice says as the owner of said voice looks down on him. "I said that was my locker. Could you move please?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know." Rick says as he scoots over. "My apologies."

"I'm Kyra by the way." The girl says rotating the numbers on the lock to her locker.

"Rick."

"Well Rick, why are you sitting here all alone? Surely you have friends that you can eat with," Kyra said, trying to be nice to the lonely looking, yet extremely cute boy slumped against the row of lockers.

"I'm new. I don't really have friends." Rick said looking down at his bag. He expected her to grab the necessary books from her locker and leave, but when he heard the locker close, he felt her slide down the lockers and sit next to him. Her shoulder touching his.

"Well then. Would you like to be my friend Rick?" Kyra says looking at him with a small smile.

"I'd love to." Rick says, feeling happy for the first time since Kate turned him down.

The two start a conversation, finding that they both have a lot more in common than one could imagine. Each having been moved across the country by their parents as well as having attended multiple more schools than the average teenager. They were so engrossed in their own conversation, neither noticed the two girls sitting across the quad immersed in their own conversation. Well one of them at least.

#########

Lanie and Kate had sat down just inside the door of their favorite classroom when Kate looked out and saw Rick slump down against a row of lockers. A part of her felt really bad for seeing him like this, but the other was confused as to why she felt this way. And while she did her very best to seem engaged with what Lanie was talking about, Lanie knew better.

"Kate, what's wrong?"

"Huh? Nothing. Just thinking." Kate said taking another glance out the door and seeing a sophomore taking a seat next to him. She couldn't place what was rising in her stomach, only knew that she absolutely hated feeling like this.

Seeing Kate's eyes focused so hard on something outside, Lanie turns around and looks around to find the object of Kate's focus. What she finds is the new kid sitting with the school's biggest prude.

"Oh. My. God." Lanie said, pausing after each and every word. She gasped and said with her mouth wide open, "You like the new kid."

With an eye roll, Kate immediately spat, "Psshh. Are you kidding? He is the most annoying person ever."

"Then why can't you keep your eyes off of him and Kyra?" Lanie points out which gets Kate's eyes off of him for just a split second.

"He asked me out." Kate whispered looking down at her half eaten sandwich, suddenly not feeling hungry anymore.

As realization hits, Lanie speaks, "You told him no, and then during health I spilled that you were going on a date. Oh my god, I am so sorry Kate. I had no idea."

"He thought I changed my mind." Kate said picking up her sandwich and tossing it in the trash, no longer hungry. "I just feel really bad. I mean, he's new and he just wanted a friend. You should have seen the look on his face when I told him that I was going on a date with someone else."

"I guess the question is now, do you want to take a chance on Will, or Rick?" Lanie asks finishing up her lunch as the bell rings, leaving Kate to her thoughts as Lanie headed out to her next class.

Throughout the day, all Kate could think about was Rick. She had a date with Will, who she actually liked, but all she could think about was hurting Rick. Why couldn't she get her mind off of him?

##########

When Kate gets home from school that day, she looks at her phone to find a text from Will. He wanted to confirm their plans for tonight. She set the phone down on her bed and took a seat next to it. Taking in a deep breath she closed her eyes and just kept still for a little.

Picking up her phone again, she replies to Will with the confirmation of their date, but also sends another text.

 _Hey, I know you are probably mad at me, and I am really sorry about the whole thing. But if your offer still stands, I would like to see a movie with you this weekend, because I would really like to be friends with you. KB_

After sending the text to Rick, she goes to her closet and picks out her white sweater. She decides to keep her black leggings on and finds her short boots. She was just pulling them on when her phone beeped. Picking it up, she finds a reply from Rick.

 _Kate, I'm sorry for running out on you. I don't know why I did that. But I don't think seeing a movie together will be such a good idea anymore. I mean what would your boyfriend say? Hell, what would my girlfriend say? I really am sorry though. RR_

Shocked about the turn of events, Kate's first reaction was hurt. She read and reread his text over and over again before finally deciding to respond.

 _You have a girlfriend now? KB_

Hearing the front door bell ring, she looks out the window to see Will's car parked in front of her house. She quickly wipes her eyes, not realizing that there were tears forming. Quickly fixing her makeup, Kate makes her way down to the living room where she finds her mom talking with Will.

Suddenly nervous, she stands still at the base of their staircase and takes a couple deep breaths. Finally entering the living room, she smiles at her mom before looking at Will. Quickly smiling, he stands up and suddenly looks really nervous.

"Hi." He says rubbing his hands down the sides of his legs.

"Hey." Kate replies watching her mom slowly back out of the room. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah," Will says opening the front door.

"You two have a fun night!" Johanna says in a sing song loving voice.

##########


	3. Chapter 3

Here's the third chapter. I am pretty sure that I have found and fixed any obvious mistakes grammatically, but I can't say for sure. Hope you guys all like it!

Thanks again for taking some time to read what has been on my mind for quite some time.

CHAPTER 3

"What does it mean when when you are dating someone, but that someone has a stronger connection with someone else?"

"What are you talking about Will?"

"I don't know Kyra, it's just ever since Kate and Rick started to become friends, I feel like she is more occupied with him than her own boyfriend." Will says rubbing his hands over his face before looking up at his own best friend. "Kyra what do I do?"

Looking up from the open books on the living room table, Kyra thinks for a moment before saying, "The only thing we can do. Separate them."

###########

Weeks have gone by since Kate and Will's first date. Weeks have gone by since Kate decided that having Rick in two of her classes wasn't all that bad. Weeks have gone by since Rick and Kate had become friends. Weeks have gone by since Kyra and Will had their talk. Weeks have gone by since Rick and Kate have hung out like they used to.

But only days have gone by since Kate almost kissed Rick.

########

"Rick, come on be serious!" Kate says giving him a slight punch on the arm to get him to stop messing around. She shoves the Spanish book into this hands, already flipped to the right page and says, "Please Rick? Our menus are due on Monday. We need to get this done."

"Uggh, fine. What do you want me to do?" Rick asks adjusting his placement on the couch so that he is sitting upright and a little closer to Kate.

"Type out the menus in Spanish. I am almost done with the boarders. Then we just need to print out the words onto my drawings and then laminate them. Okay?"

"Okay Miss Bossy Pants." Rick jokes by gets to work on the translations.

Twenty minutes later, the borders are finished, the translations have been written, and printed onto Kate's drawings.

The living room floor was cleaned up within a matter of minutes which made Kate a little sad. Since she started having more dates with Will, her and Rick haven't actually seen each other outside of class as often as she would have liked.

But when she came back in from the garage where she put the supplies away, she found Rick in the kitchen cooking.

"I thought you left. Don't you and Kyra have a date?" Kate asked with a slight shudder at Rick's girlfriend's name. She didn't really like Kyra, but Rick did, so she put on the face of a good friend.

"Yeah I do. But I have some time. I just thought we could spend a little time together. We haven't really had any lately."

"I know, and I'm sorry." Kate said finally eyeing all the ingredients Rick had out on the kitchen counter. "Are you making your snowballs? But it's only October!"

"Yeah well I know how much you and your mom love them, so I wanted to teach you how to make them." Rick said pulling the eggs out of the fridge.

"Really?" Kate says surprised.

"Yeah. I trust that even when you know how to make them, you still look forward to when I make them every winter." He smirks, pulling out the last of the ingredients from the pantry.

"Always." Kate says, and like always, her breath catches when she uses their words.

"Then come on. We have some baking to do."

Half an hour later, the snowballs were ready to go into the oven. After closing the oven door, Rick pulls the oven mitts off and starts to help Kate clean up. However, Rick decided to have a little fun first.

Creeping up behind her with a palm full of flour, he tops her on the shoulder, and right when she turns to face him, he tosses it on her face.

"RICK!" Kate screams, "I can't believe you!"

"Do you really think I wouldn't do something like this? Come on! You should know me by now!" Rick joked, slowly backing up when he saw the look in her eyes.

"Well then you should know how much I enjoy seeking revenge." She says slowly approaching him, backing him up until he hits the sink. Reaching just to his right, Kate picks something up, but Rick is too focused on the scary look on Kate's face to notice what it was.

Rick didn't even have a chance to open his mouth for an apology before Kate grabbed his belt, pulled it towards her, and dropped the cracked egg into his boxers. Then with a smirk on her face, she cracked one on the top of his head before walking away saying, "Payback's a bitch."

"Oh no you don't." He says grabbing an egg, running after her, but slipping on the first step while trying to catch her going up the stairs.

Kate stops running when she hears the thud behind her. Turning she sees him holding his hand over his left eye. Getting him back into the kitchen and up on one of the stools next to the kitchen counter, Kate grabs a bag of frozen peas from the freezer and gently holds it to his face.

"Are you okay?" She asks as he winces at first touch. He pulls away at the coldness, but Kate won't have any of it. "I know it's cold, but it will help."

She puts one hand on the bag of peas and the other on the back of his neck to hold him in place. When she puts the bag of peas back on his eye, his hands instinctively grab on to what they can. At this moment it just so happened that Kate's waist was at the perfect height for his hands.

When Rick's hands gripped her hips, Kate let out a slight gasp, letting her eyes leave the peas and find Rick's other eye only to find it closed. She had put all her focus back on the bag of peas when she felt his thumbs moving. They started to make little circles on the small patch of skin her shirt had revealed.

Trying to suppress a moan that would reveal exactly how good his fingers felt, she accidently pushed the bag of peas a little too hard on his face and he winced, opening his other eye, their eyes meeting.

Unconsciously, Kate's right hand lowers the bag of peas, her left still on the back of his neck. Neither of them knew what was happening, but they didn't know how to stop it. They found their lips closing the distance and within seconds their lips would be touching. However, that moment never came. They both jumped apart quickly at the sound of the front door opening.

Johanna walked into the kitchen and found Kate at the sink washing dishes and Rick at the counter with the deer in the headlights look.

"Hello Katie, oh Rick! What brings you here?" Johanna asks setting her things down and giving Kate a kiss on the back of her head.

"He taught me how to make his snowballs mom!" Kate answers for Rick who finally moves.

"I should go." He says quickly, but quietly before getting up to leave. Right before he leaves the kitchen he turns back and says, "They should be done in a minute or two."

When they hear the front door close, Johanna asks, "What was that all about?"

"I almost kissed him mom." Kate says, turning towards her mom with tears fighting to spill over.

"Aww Katie-bear, come here." Her mom says wrapping her arms around Kate and letting Kate bury her head in her chest.

###########

"I can't believe you!" She yells at him, immediately stopping the car, "Get out!"

"Kyra please. Nothing happened. I left immediately." He pleads, "I love you, not her."

"Yeah Rick, you love me so much you tried to kiss your best friend, and then waited a week to tell your girlfriend." Kyra said, finally lowering her voice. "Just please leave. I need time."

"No." Rick states not moving an inch.

"What do you mean no?" Kyra says, ready to just get out of the car herself.

"I love you. So no, I'm not going to give you space. Kate and I never kissed." Rick says looking over at her to find her hands in her lap, her hair falling in front of her face, and tears dropping from her chin onto her shirt. "Kyra, I am so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I don't even know what happened to be honest. But I know that the only person I want to be kissing is you."

"I still need time Rick. I'm sorry." Kyra pleads, "I just need a couple days, okay? Please, I will call you. I promise."

"Fine," Rick says unbuckling his seatbelt, opening the passenger door, and walking away.

############

 _Can we talk?_

 _I don't think that's such a good idea._

 _Please? Rick, just talk to me. Please?_

Sitting on his bed, waiting for Kyra to come over, Rick looks at his phone, reading the texts that are coming from Kate.

 _Kate, I can't do this anymore. I'm sorry._

Hitting the send button, he locks his phone, and slips it in his back pocket. Making his way down the stairs into his kitchen to await Kyra, he feels it vibrate.

 _Can't do what Rick?_

While trying to decide what to text back, the doorbell rings. Opening it to find his girlfriend standing there, he suddenly knows what he has to do.

 _Can't be friends anymore. Goodbye Kate._

Turning his phone off, and bending down slightly, he pulls Kyra in for a kiss.

"Well hello to you too." Kyra says, leaning back into him for another kiss, loving the way her lips feel on his.

"I'm really glad you called." He admits, dragging another, longer kiss from his girlfriend.

"Me too." Kyra nods before continuing, "Ready for our date?"

##########

Days later, Kate is still wondering why her best friend refuses to talk to her. She wracks her brain trying to go over everything that happened, but she still doesn't understand why he shut her out.

She was so busy concentrating on her thoughts, that as she rounded the corner to her health class, she suddenly hit a wall. Well, it was actually a person. It just felt like a wall.

"Rick." Kate says shocked. Looking up at him, her heart breaks just a little. He wasn't even looking back at her, he didn't even have his eyes open. "Rick?"

"I have to go." He says coldly.

"No." She says grabbing his arm and turning him around to face her again. "Not until you tell me what the hell happened. One minute we were best friends and the next, you say we can't even be friends at all. What the hell?"

"Fine, you want an explanation?" He says, and by the tone of his voice, she can practically feel his skin freezing over.

"I think that's the least I deserve."

"Because I don't love you. I love Kyra." He says, shaking away her grip and walking away.

All Kate can do is hold in her tears and walk into class. Sitting next to Lanie, all Kate can think about throughout the lecture was the empty seat next to her.

###########

Walking with purpose up the front steps to his house, Kyra pounds on his door. And she keeps pounding until the door opens to reveal Kate. The one person who would ruin everything.

#############


	4. Chapter 4

So I actually wrote this maybe a little over a week ago, on a day where I basically binge wrote, but I'm not sure if I actually like how it went.

CHAPTER 4

Walking with purpose up the front steps to his house, Kyra pounds on his door. And she keeps pounding until the door opens to reveal Kate. The one person who would ruin everything.

"Kyra. Hey." Kate says opening the door wider so Kyra could come in.

"I need to talk to Will about something really fast. It's important."

"Okay, no problem. Let me get him." Kate says closing the door behind Kyra and heading back into the den where she and Will had been making out instead of watching the movie. A couple of minutes later, Will comes out of the den and leads Kyra to his father's study.

"Kate said you wanted to talk to me real fast?" Will asks leaning against the dark brown mahogany desk.

"Yeah, I do. But you are not going to like it." Kyra says, taking a seat on the wooden chair positioned in front of the desk, "Your girlfriend tried to molest my boyfriend."

"How long ago was this?" Will asks putting his left hand behind him for support.

"Almost a month. I think Rick said it was right before Halloween."

##########

Hearing the front door close, Kate figured that Will would be back in the den within minutes so they could finish their movie. But when he walked in and took a seat next to her, he didn't look at her.

Not really thinking, Kate tried to lean closer and restart their make out session, but Will lightly pushed her away.

"What's wrong Will?" Kate asked, suddenly acting like one of the school tramps that she and Lanie used to make fun of.

"Do you love me?" He asks still refusing to look at him.

"Yes, of course!" Kate says, maybe a little too quickly, "Why would you even ask that?"

"If you love me so much, why would try to have sex with Rick?" Will said, voice raised.

"What? Is that why Kyra came over? To make up some lie about me and Rick?" Kate asked suddenly wanting some distance between herself and Will.

"Except it isn't a lie is it?" Will asks, coming close to his breaking point.

"Let's just get one thing straight Will. I have never, and will never be unfaithful to you."

"Then why did Rick tell Kyra that after he made you cookies, you tried to molest him?" Will says accusingly, looking up at her with hurt in his eyes.

"I can't believe this. Will, nothing happened. I promise. He tripped on the stairs, so I held a bag of peas to his eye." Kate says before rubbing her hands through her hair and looking down at the ground. "Look, I won't lie to you and say that nothing happened when something did, but I can promise you that I have never kissed Rick, nor will I ever kiss him."

"Something happened?" Will asked, "What happened Kate?"

"When I was holding the bag of peas to his eye, there was a moment. For a couple of seconds, I thought we were going to kiss, but it didn't happen okay?" Kate says, "If this changes anything, just know that I am sorry. I love you."

Taking a couple of steps towards the front door, Kate tried to make her getaway, but Will had other ideas.

"I love you too Kate. But there's something else we should talk about." Will says closing the distance between Kate and himself.

"Okay." Kate nods her head, and lets him lead her back to the couch.

"As you know, my family is pretty well off." He starts, as she nods her head in confirmation, "Well, historically, the sons of the family go to a certain prestigious boarding school during their high school years. Last spring I applied for Edgewick. They didn't have enough space for me for this semester, but I could start there in January if I accept."

When Will took a pause, Kate could only think about one thing, "You would leave me?"

"Not exactly, I asked my parents if you could come with me." Will said with a smile on his face. "I got a spot for you. We could go together."

"Will, I love you, I really do. But I can't go. My life is here." Kate said letting his hands drop from hers.

"Kate please, I know that we can get through this. I know that our love is strong enough. All you have to do is say yes."

"I'm sorry Will. I can't leave."

"But you can. My parents talked to yours, they said as long as it was a good program, you could go." Will says grabbing her hands again, but she quickly pulls them away and stands up, heading to the front window.

"My answer is no Will." Kate says, allowing a tear to fall onto her cheek, not even bothering to wipe it from her face.

"Why not Kate?" He asks, standing up, but not moving any closer, "You love me. From where I stand it is so simple."

"I'm sorry Will, I really am, but I can't leave."

"Yes you can. Your parents already said that you could." Will says taking a step towards her while interrupting her.

"I said I can't Will." Kate says taking a step in the direction of the front door.

"You can't or you won't?"

"I won't." Kate said, making her way to the front door and opening it.

"So this is goodbye then?" Will asks still standing in front of the couch.

"Goodbye Will."

##########

Having Will walk away from her life the way he did left Kate in mourning. And while her parents didn't really love the idea of taking an early vacation, they understood their daughter's needs. So with a few conversations with most of her teachers, Kate was able to take most of her finals early so that she could get the peace and quiet their family's upstate New York cabin provided.

The fresh air blowing in her face as she walked through the woods with her mom to find their favorite picnic spot was just what Kate needed to heal.

Unfortunately, while Kate was healing, someone was in the process of being hurt.

############

"You're what?" Rick asked immediately dropping the hands he had so lovingly embraced.

"I'm going to boarding school." Kyra said while trying to hold off her smile.

"Why?" Rick asked, clearly in pain, "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you taught me that you have to go for what you believe in, and always fight for what you love." Kyra said finally allowing a part of her smile to show, not seeing him cringe at the one word that had meant so much to him.

"I thought you loved me." Rick said standing up and taking a few steps away from her, needing space. And when Kyra did not say anything, Rick had his answer. "You need to leave, now."

"Rick, just know I never meant to hurt you." She says taking a step towards him while saying, "But you were the one who also taught me that we can't help who we fall in love with."

At her words he looked up with tears in his eyes. "What? Are you saying that this whole time…" He tries to swallow, but can't, "This whole time we were together, while I was falling in love with you, you never had any intentions of loving me back?" He pauses again, the words caught in his throat. "At least tell me one thing?"

"Anything Rick." Kyra says nodding her head, hoping to make him whole again.

"Who is it?" Rick asked, unsure if he really wanted to know the answer, "Who are you chasing?"

"Rick…" Kyra starts, but is interrupted.

"Kyra please." He pleads, "You owe me this."

"It's Will. It always has been." Kyra says as she hangs her head, "I'm so sorry."

"You need to leave now!"

Rick doesn't move until he hears the front door close. His legs collapse below him and he falls against the couch in tears. What had he done to deserve a girlfriend who was in love with someone else?

############

After sitting there for what felt like hours, Rick rotates his body just a little to be able to reach his phone. He decides there are a couple of things that he has to do. First, he changes the background of his screen from a picture of the two, taken at the top of a ferris wheel, to just a plain black screen. Then he opened up his contacts and permanently deleted a phone number he knew he would never need again.

Finally deciding he needed to write a wrong, he dialed her number. But it just kept ringing and ringing, until he finally hears,

"Hey this is Kate Beckett, sorry I can't come to the phone right now, but leave me a message and I will get back to you, Always."

He had barely choked out a sob when he hears the monotone beep before he says, "Hi Kate, umm so I know it's been awhile since we last talked, and I hope that you are doing okay. I don't really know why I am calling other than to say I'm sorry. What I did was wrong. I get that you are mad at me, and it is well deserved, but I just need you to know that I really need my best friend right now. And I know that I probably don't deserve you or your friendship, but I need it. No I want it. I want to be your best friend again, and I want you to be mine. So whenever you're ready, if you still want it, I'll be here. Just call, okay?"

Hanging up he feels a little better, pulling himself off the couch, to get to his room where he could just lay down and let it all out.

############

Walking down the hallway of her high school, Kate feels like a new person. Her break away from this place allowed her to figure everything out. She felt more confident and ready for forgiveness. Heading into her Spanish class, she greeted Ms. J, and took her seat.

Sitting there she was anxious to see Rick again. Forgive him, and get back to what they used to be. But when the bell rang and he wasn't in his seat, she felt broken. Is she alright or did she wait too long?

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't know that Ms. J has started and finished her lecture. Kate hadn't even realized that the bell had rung until Ms. J shook her shoulder and Kate saw the empty room.

 _Guess I'll have to wait another hour to see him._ She thought as she packed up her bag and said goodbye to her favorite teacher.

Immediately looking for Rik when she walked into Mr. S's classroom, Kate was disappointed to only find Lanie at their desk. Setting her books on the table gets Lanie's attention, and when Lanie sees Kate standing there, she practically screams.

"Kate!" She hears as two hands wrap around her, causing her bag to fall off her shoulder.

"I thought you weren't coming back. No one has heard from you in two months."

"There's no reception at my family's cabin." Kate says shrugging her shoulders. Looking over at the empty chair next to her. She asks, "Hey, where's Rick? He wasn't in Spanish either."

Sensing a little tension in the air at the mention of Rick's name Kate says, "What? What is it Lane?"

"Rick's suspended indefinitely." Lanie says quietly as the bell rings.

"What did he do Lanie?" Kate asks as Mr. S turns on the projector on and starts his lecture only receiving a nod and a _later_ from Lanie.

#############

Trying to catch up on his sleep, Rick is awoken by a ridiculously loud banging on his front door. God it was too early for this.

Opening the door he immediately rubs his eyes at the bright sun and says, "What do you… Kate?"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She accuses shoving past him to enter his house.

"Hello to you too." He says sarcastically, "Please come in." Closing the door, Rick turns to face Kate who is standing there, arms crossed, clearly upset. "What?"

"What the hell are you doing, Rick?"

"What are you talking about?" He asks, eyes starting to drop again as a headache returns, "It's too early for this."

"Too early?" Kate says, voice raised. "Rick, it's three in the afternoon!"

"Oh, wow. Nope still too early." He says making his way up the stairs to go back to bed.

"Where are you going?" Kate says following him up the stairs.

"Bed. I'm tired."

"Are you kidding me?" Kate says, "What happened to you? Why are you getting drunk and then showing up to class? What the hell Rick? This isn't you!"

"You want to know what happened Kate?" He yells, suddenly turning around and crowding her space. "You happened. Kyra happened. Will happened. And then you happened again."

With that he opens his door and slams it behind him, leaving Kate standing there scared. Slowly approaching the door, she knocks and says, "I'm not going anywhere Rick. When you are ready, I'll be sitting right here. Just open your door."

Deciding that she needed to be here for him, she took her seat, leaning against his door, and waited.

############

The front door opens before the bedroom door does. Martha Rodgers strides in the house calling for her son. Not hearing a response, or any noise at all that would confirm he was here, Martha started up the stairs in hope that her son was not passed out drunk again. As it seemed, no matter how well she thought she hid her alcohol stash, he could sniff it out. At one point, she had even emptied all the bottles down the drain in hope that her son would stay sober. But no matter what she tried, when she walked through the doors everyday, her son would either be passed out drunk on his bed or the couch, or watching some really bad soap opera with a bottle of booze in his hand.

But when Martha got to the top of the stairs, she was surprised to find the young girl slumped against a door.

Earlier that year, when Rick had come home in tears and told his mother that he had to in a sense, breakup with Kate, Martha figured she would never see her again. But there she was, asleep against her son's bedroom door.

Crouching down next to her, Martha lightly shook Kate's shoulder trying to coax her out of sleep.

Slowly opening her eyes, Kate looked up to find Martha looking down at her, "Hey sleepyhead."

"Martha, hey." Kate said sitting up straighter, "What time is it?"

"It's almost 7. I just got home." Martha said quietly before nodding at the door behind her, "Is my son in there?"

"Yeah, I don't think he's come out yet. We had a fight." Kate says, standing up. "How long has he been drinking like that?"

"Since finals." Martha admits, "A lot happened in such a short amount of time, and he couldn't handle it."

"He blames me." Kate said looking down at her hands that were fidgeting with the bottom of her shirt.

"No he doesn't sweetie," Martha tries to say, but Kate is shaking her head.

"No, Martha, he does. I asked him what happened. He said I happened." Kate said, still shaking her head. "I just wish I knew what I did."

"Kate, would you like something to drink?" Martha said before turning her body slightly to face both Kate and the stairs, "Maybe I can help clear some things up?"

"Thank you Martha." Kate says following Martha down the stairs with a small smile on her face for the first time that day.

###########

Behind the door, Rick can be found slumped against the other side of the door with a tear rolling down his face. He can't believe she stayed. And that's when he made the decision, Kate shouldn't be hearing these things from his mother. She should be hearing them from him.

So he opened the door, walked down the stairs, heading into the kitchen where he sees Kate and his mother standing around their kitchen island holding mugs between their palms.

They both look up at the same time as he speaks, "Kate, we should talk."

##########


	5. Chapter 5

Okay, so this chapter is a little shorter than the rest. But what I have planned next I wanted to keep together and have the next chapter be one single event. Kind of.

Also, while I do have an outline that I created, I am interested in hearing any little events that you guys might want to see. So if there is anything you want to see Castle and Beckett to, or places that you would like them to visit, just send me a little old message or review! I would love to see if I can incorporate any of them into the timeline!

Thank You!

CHAPTER 5

Behind the door, Rick can be found slumped against the other side of the door with a tear rolling down his face. He can't believe she stayed. And that's when he made the decision, Kate shouldn't be hearing these things from his mother. She should be hearing them from him.

So he opened the door, walked down the stairs, heading into the kitchen where he sees Kate and his mother standing around their kitchen island holding mugs between their palms.

They both look up at the same time as he speaks, "Kate, we should talk."

After making a quick exit up the stairs and to her room, Martha left the kids alone in the kitchen, knowing this wasn't going to be easy for Rick.

"You stayed?" He asks when he hears his mother's bedroom door finally close.

"Of course I did Rick." Kate says like it is the most obvious thing in the world.

"Why?" He asked still standing in space separating the entryway and the kitchen.

"I don't know, Rick." Kate says, feeling a little deflated, "All I know is that when I came home after break, there was a message in my mailbox asking me for forgiveness and begging to be friends again."

Surprised at the revelation, Rick looked up at her with wide eyes, "You got my message?"

"Yeah is that surprising?"

Nodding his head in confirmation, Rick walks fully into the room and takes a seat next to where Kate was standing. "I called you just before break started. And when I didn't hear from you at all, I thought you just deleted the message."

"I was at our cabin in upstate New York. There's no reception up there." Kate explains turning to face Rick and leaning against the marble counter.

"Ohh." Rick says, nodding his head for the millionth time, "Makes sense now."

"I don't want to sound blunt or anything, but what happened while I was gone?"

Shifting a little in his seat, Rick sat up a little straighter before taking a deep breath and a small laugh. "Where do I start?"

"How about telling me why you didn't want to be my friend anymore?" Kate suggested letting go of the mug on the counter.

"To be honest, I never didn't want to be friends with you. But after what had happened, I told Kyra. I wanted to be honest with her. I was so in love with her that I thought she would leave me if we were friends. She had acted like it was no big deal because nothing actually happened, but I could tell it was eating away at her."

"So you chose her." Kate said, suddenly not getting enough air into her lungs.

"I'm so sorry Kate, it was the worst, most stupid thing that I have ever done."

"Okay, so that explains that, but why did you start drinking?" Kate asked taking a deep breath before looking up at him, meeting his eyes, "And why did you let it get so bad?"

"It's kinda a long story," Rick chuckles before diving into it, leaving out the part about Kyra's love for Kate's boyfriend.

He doesn't really know what drove him to do it, but when he had finished explaining everything, he asked, "So, how have you and Will been?"

"We broke up." Kate says, taking her empty mug and washing before putting it on the drying rack to dry.

"I'm sorry." Rick says, even though deep down, he wasn't so sure that was the truth.

"There's not much I can say. We didn't want the same things. Am I sad that it's over, no." Kate says turning back around to face him, "To be honest, I was broken when he left, but these past two months up at our cabin has really helped. My mom was able to help me figure out what I truly wanted. So Will and my relationship is in the past and I am okay with it."

"Are you sure?" Rick asks, not sure if he really wants to tell her about Kyra.

"Yeah, I'm happy." Kate says, nodding her head before feeling like she was missing something, "Why? What are you not telling me?"

"It has to do with my break up with Kyra. The sole reason why we didn't work out." Rick says taking a breath before standing up to face her before he spills the truth, "Kyra and I didn't work out because she could never love me the way I loved her."

"I'm sorry about that Rick, I really am, but I don't see how this has to do with me?"

"Kyra couldn't love me back because she was in love with Will."

"What?" Kate said, her breath catching.

"I'm so sorry." Rick says.

"Did Will…" She tries to get the words out, but all she can do is stutter, "Did he… Oh god. Did he?"

"I don't know. All I know is that she followed him to boarding school." Rick said, dejected.

Hearing a couple of sniffles, Rick closes the distance between them and embraces her in the first hug they've shared in months. "It's okay, let it out."

When Kate finally pulls away, she looks up at Rick, her makeup completely ruined and says, "Thank you."

"Always."

And suddenly, with one simple word, they knew that everything was back to normal. Everything was going to be great. And that's all that mattered.

############

Two months have now gone by since the pair made up and they never could have been closer.

"Hey B, what are you doing this weekend?"

"I have no idea. Why? Planning on needing me to bail you out?" Kate jokes as she receives a glare from her best friend.

"No. If anything, my mother is going to have to bail the both of us out." Rick says, shaking his head as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "But, no. Actually, Javi and Ryan are having a little get together. Wanna go?"

"Definitely! Let's get wasted!" Kate says quietly, hoping that no one was paying attention to them. "Mind telling my parents that I'm having a movie night with you at your place?"

"Always." Rick says giving her one of his signature looks that she returns. Smiling, the both of them continue to gaze lovingly into each other's eyes until Lanie walks up to them and coughs.

"You two done there?" She asks before sliding between them and starts talking about this weekend.

As she talks, Rick and Kate chance small glances at each other, smiling and blushing when caught by the other.

##########


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Music blasting, bodies, and lights flickering. This is what Kate sees when she and Rick walk through the doors of Javi's uncle's loft. For the longest time, Javi's spring break party had only consisted of Kate, Lanie, Javi, and Kevin. But when the four hit high school, Javi had wanted to up the ante.

So here they were, in Javi's uncle's living room holding a red solo cup in each of their hands, talking only to each other while sipping their third or fourth drink.

In the middle of reminiscing about an old memory, Lanie interrupts, grabs both of their hands, and drags them down the stairs to a private den where there were at least ten other people lounging around, clearly intoxicated.

"Let's get this party started!" Lanie yelled, giving both Rick and Kate a light push to send them falling onto a beanbag.

Finally sitting comfortably next to each other, Rick looks over at Kate confused. "Tradition. We play truth or dare." Kate explains before shrugging, "Truthfully, I'm kind of over the game, but I know they love it."

As she spoke, she nodded off towards where Lanie was now sitting on Javi's lap, hugging his arms that were possessively holding her.

"And they wonder why everyone thinks they are dating." Rick jokes, which gets a laugh from Kate before their eyes meet and the loving gazes begins.

They were so caught up in each other's eyes that they hadn't heard Lanie calling Kate's name.

"Huh? What?" Kate says looking over at her best friend across the room.

"I asked Truth or Dare? But I guess you were too busy having eye sex with your boyfriend over there." She teased, knowing full well that Rick and Kate were just friends.

"Umm, Truth I guess."

"Okay." Lanie pauses, pretending to think, "Okay, got it. Who was your first?"

"First what?" Kate asked confused. Lanie knew everything about her life.

"First everything."

"Okay, well Will was my first love, Javi over there was my first kiss, as well as my first boyfriend. But that's it." Kate says quickly feeling her cheeks redden. Sitting next to her, Rick was shocked to find out that he wasn't the only virgin in the room of horny teens. "Moving on," Kate said, quickly looking around the room, "Jeff, Truth or dare?"

A "dare" could be heard coming from behind the couch.

"I dare you to," pausing to consider her options, "Get a cup, fill it with a little bit of everyone's drink, and chug."

Walking around the room, he did as he was told. By the time he made it all the way around the room, his cup was filled with drinks ranging from wine and beer, to rum and tequila. When he finished chugging, the room erupted in applause before moving on.

It didn't take long before the game had taken a slight turn due to teen hormones. And it hadn't taken long before Lanie had taken control again.

"Rick!" Lanie screeched drunkenly, "Truth or dare?"

"Uh," He stutters, nervously looking around the room, wondering which answer would be the least embarrassing. "Dare."

Lanie looked around the room is search of someone specific so when she found said person at the fridge getting another drink, she smiled evilly. "Rick. I dare you to take Kate into the closet and partake in 7 minutes of heaven."

Lanie has purposely timed her words so Kate heard them clearly as she retook her seat next to Rick, handing him his drink. Rick's eyes went wide as Kate coughed, having choked on her drink.

"Well don't just sit there!" Lanie exclaimed, "Get your buts in there!"

Slowly, they both stood up, taking their drinks with them, and heading into the closet, not making eye contact. Once the door was closed, Kate looked up at Rick nervously.

"We don't have to…" Rick starts, stuttering over every other word.

"No, it's fine. It's a dare." Kate reasoned, "Besides, I don't back down from any dare. Never have, never will. Pride thing."

Rick just nods his head before slowly closing the distance between the two and just barely touching his lips to hers. Due to a sudden jolt of electricity that coursed through the both of them, they jumped apart, mouths open in shock and their eyes wide. When their eyes met each other, a tiny gasp escaped each one.

Before either one knew it, lips were connected, hands were in hair, and Kate's back was against the door. The truth was that neither could explain what drove them to act like this, but they did know they didn't want it to stop.

Moans could be heard lightly as Kate could feel Rick's teeth sink into her bottom lip before slipping his tongue across it. But just as Rick's hands left Kate's hair and neck to make their way down to her hips, there was a loud banging on the door behind her followed by Javi's voice saying, "7 minutes is up. You two can come out, unless of course you don't."

Laughter could be heard behind Javi, which brought both Rick and Kate back to reality. They quickly separated, and Rick said, "We should probably…"

"Yeah." Kate agreed quickly before taking a deep breath, running her hands through her hair, and turning to open the door, refusing to make eye contact.

They both take their seats, Rick quickly downing the rest of his drink, adding to his intoxication before looking around and seeing the knowing looks.

The rest of the night went on uneventfully for the pair, and when the last of the guests left, the five teenagers slipped into sleep.

Javi and Lanie in the guest bedroom, Kevin passed out on the sofa, and Kate and Rick asleep on the pullout in the downstairs den.

##########

When the sun rose in the morning, Kate awoke at the sound of birds chirping, and the smell of coffee brewing. She tried to get up but something was holding her back. Opening her eyes, she could see an arm around her waist, hand fisted in her shirt. She turned her head to find Rick's face buried in the back of her neck and his body pressed tightly against hers.

Shifting just a smidge, the arms around her tighten, making her realize that one of his hands was holding her boob. Gasping, she freezes not really knowing how to handle this situation.

 _Oh god, what do I do? This is Rick behind me, my best friend. Kate's thoughts were in overdrive as she felt pain run through her brain. Ouch. What did I do last night?_

While in her thoughts, her breathing increases causing her to unconsciously push her chest forward, into his hand. And now with a little more pressure applied to her breast, she could feel her heartrate speed up.

Kate tried to calm herself down, but when she felt the hand close down around her boob and Rick press his groin against her back, her heart rate spiked. She could feel all of him against her as he buried his face in her neck and moaned.

Feeling his hot dry breath behind her ear made her eyes slip closed allowing herself to just feel for a moment. Allowing herself to just let her have him for a moment. Just letting herself live in the moment before shutting the door once again.

Slowly slipping out from his grasp, Kate sits on the edge of the pull out leaning against her knees with her hands rubbing her face. She couldn't feel like this. It wasn't right.

Getting up quickly, she makes her way into the nearest bathroom and splashes water on her face, trying to cool herself off before heading into the kitchen to get some coffee.

#######

Feeling some movement next to him, Rick stirs in his sleep before opening his eyes. He finds Beckett sitting on the edge of the bed rubbing her face before getting up and heading into the bathroom.

Rolling onto his back, Rick takes a hand to rub his eyes as he fully wakes up. He had just had the weirdest dream and it revolved completely around the girl who had just left his bed. Sitting up, he goes over the dream.

 _I am walking down the beach walking hand in hand with someone as we gaze out at all the little kids building sandcastles with their parents. Her hand is so soft and warm in mine and her eyes are such a beautiful shade of hazel I have ever seen._

 _I just love how when she smiles the corner of her eyes shrink up and leave little crinkles that are just stunning._

 _As she laughs at one of my terrible jokes, I can't help but stare at her beautiful smile. Her perfectly white teeth go hand in hand with her cute dimples to make me want to see this smile as often as I can._

 _"Rick," The girl with the smile said giggling, "I told you that staring was creepy."_

 _"I can't help it." I reply, "When a beautiful girl smiles at you, one cannot help but to stare at it."_

 _Dipping her head trying to hide her blush, she whispers a quiet, "Thank you."_

 _I squeeze her hand before pulling her into me lightly before wrapping my free hand around her waist and leaning my forehead on hers. Looking into each other's eyes for a couple of seconds, I can't help myself and start to lean in._

 _Her smile grows slightly before she closes the rest of the distance and our lips meet. For such a soft and short kiss, it held such a big spark filled with electricity. Pulling back quickly, I find her eyes to see that I was not the only one affected._

 _Her eyes were full of shock and she kept switching her focus from my eyes and my lips that were slightly parted. We both lean back in and our lips meet._

 _Breaking apart, I grab her hand softly in mine again as we continue walking down the beach, bumping each other's shoulders every few steps._

Sitting straight up in the bed as the blankets pool around his waist, Rick's eyes shoot wide open. The girl in the dream was Kate. The girl in the dream was his best friend. The one he just got back. The one he couldn't have those kind of feelings for. The one who saved him from himself. The one who means everything to him. The one he loves.

Oh god. He loves her. He is in love with his best friend.

Quickly standing up and getting dressed, Rick heads out into the living room where he finds the fest of his friends sitting on the couch talking. They all look up at one time and when his eyes meet Beckett's, he finds that she quickly diverts and looks down at the mug of coffee in her hands.

#########

The morning progressed rather quickly, filled with small talk and some video games. Pretty soon everyone was heading out and as Rick headed across the street to his car, he looked back to find Kate climbing into a cab with Lanie.

Climbing into his own car, Rick starts to wonder if he did something wrong. Then as he starts to pull away from the curb into traffic, everything starts to flood back. The party. The drinking. The dares. The closet. The kissing. Everything.

Getting home as quick as he could, Rick walked into his house heading straight for the shower. He really needed to wash the night off so that he could get past these feelings that he shouldn't be having for his best friend.

So as the water cascaded down his back, Rick prayed that as the soap washed down the drain, so would his feelings for Kate.

#########


	7. Chapter 7

So I'm not to sure if I like how the chapter turned out, but every time I tried to change it a little, it just kept getting worse. So I just kept the original one.

I just want to say that I know where I kind of want this story to go, but am having trouble putting all the pieces together. So I apologize if the transitions are a little shaky.

CHAPTER 7

Previously…

The morning progressed rather quickly, filled with small talk and some video games. Pretty soon everyone was heading out and as Rick headed across the street to his car, he looked back to find Kate climbing into a cab with Lanie.

Climbing into his own car, Rick starts to wonder if he did something wrong. Then as he starts to pull away from the curb into traffic, everything starts to flood back. The party. The drinking. The dares. The closet. The kissing. Everything.

Getting home as quick as he could, Rick walked into his house heading straight for the shower. He really needed to wash the night off so that he could get past these feelings that he shouldn't be having for his best friend.

So as the water cascaded down his back, Rick prayed that as the soap washed down the drain, so would his feelings for Kate.

########

"So." Lanie asks right before she drops Kate off at her house.

"So?" Kate asks, looking up from her fingernails to find her best friend looking at her with her 'You know what I mean' look.

"Girl, I know you know what I am talking about."

Deciding that playing dumb was her best option, Kate gave Lanie her best bewildered look before replying, "No, Lane."

"Girl, Ima smack you." Lanie squeals as she pulls onto Kate's street. "You not only had a make out session with a certain someone, but you also slept side by side with him."

"So?" Kate responds pretending that it didn't mean anything. "It didn't mean anything."

Not able to look her best friend in the eye and lie, Kate turned back to her nails and started to pick at the chipped black nail polish that Rick had convinced her to wear. Because who was she kidding, in just a matter of minutes, Rick had her melted in his arms wanting nothing more than to just have him. To just be with him. To forget everything else and just let go for once.

"Sure, Kate." Lanie finally said putting the car in park and giving her a hug. "I'll believe that when you do."

Rolling her eyes, Kate climbs out of Lanie's car and waves goodbye before heading into her house. Dropping her stuff by the staircase, she makes her way into the kitchen to find her mom dancing and singing along to old fifties music while she cooks.

"Hi mom." Beckett says giving her a hug before taking a seat on one of their kitchen stools.

"How was the party?" Her mom questioned, thankful that she didn't have a daughter that hid stuff from her.

"Oh you know, same ol same ol." Kate says, before she changes her mind, puts her elbows on the kitchen counter, and smooshing her face into her hands. "I think I did something stupid mom."

"I'm sure that it wasn't that bad honey," Johanna said as she rounded the island and started to rub her daughter's back.

Picking her head up from her hands, Kate looked at her mom with teary eyes before taking a deep breath and saying, "I kissed him mom."

"Who honey?" Jo asked even though she had a pretty good idea about who it was that got Kate completely out of whack.

"Rick. When we were at Javi's place." Kate whispered as she felt a single tear slip out of her eye before she rubbed her nose. "Lanie dared us to. It was so stupid, but I was afraid to back down from the dare. I mean you know me mom, I can't back down."

"Ohh honey," Jo says before rubbing her daughter's back before pulling her into a warm embrace. "You really do like him, don't you?"

"Of course I do mom. He's my best friend. I don't want to loose him."

Johanna chuckles a bit before running her hand through Kate's hair. "You know that's not what I meant sweetie."

"No mom, I don't like him like that. I can't. He's Rick." Kate says, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. But then again, who was she kidding. There was something brewing inside of her that she couldn't quite make out. But it couldn't be, could it? She didn't have those kind of feelings for her best friend. She just couldn't.

#######

Days after days have gone by since that night and as far as Kate could tell, she was the only one who remembered exactly what happened in that closet. And that was for the best. The less he knew, the better she felt.

And now, well, now it was Prom season. And as much as Kate would like to deny it, she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to go to prom. But if she was being honest to herself, there was only one person that could possible make it the best night possible. Unfortunately, due to their age, none of her friends were permitted to attend the dance.

So, sitting on top of one of Mrs. J's desks picking at her lunch, Kate starts to let her mind wonder what it would be like if her and Rick actually were something other than best friends.

"What do you guys think is going on in her head?" Rick asked, pulling his lunch out of the microwave situated on top of one of the spanish teacher's many filing cabinets.

Choking on a piece of pepperoni, Lanie coughs as all eyes turn to her. Looking around at everyone, she sees them staring back at her with curious eyes. "What?"

"You know something, don't you?" Javi asked, setting down his own lunch to pick up his napkin before dabbing his mouth as if he were sophisticated.

"Actually I do." Lanie claims as she glances at Kate, who was still staring down at her food. "However, it's not mine to tell. If Kate wants anyone else to know, she will tell you."

"Buzzkill." Rick jokes before taking his seat and watching Kate. He was just about to say something when the door opened and Mrs. J walked in.

Everyone looked up and watched as she taped a poster for Prom on the inside of the door.

"We should do something." Rick says out of the blue, eyes not leaving the poster.

"Okay?" Ryan states before looking around at the rest of the group who were just as confused as he was. "Wanna clarify for us Rick?"

"Prom."

"We can't go." Javi chimes in.

"Exactly. Which is why we should do something together. Since none of us can go, we should make our own Prom." Rick explains looking rather excited.

"Yeah, that sounds like it could be fun." Lanie cried out and with a unanimous vote, it was agreed that they would all spend the night together, making memories.

Hearing the bell ring, Kate finally broke out of her trance as she looked up to see her friends all packing up to head on to their next class. Quickly tossing her uneaten lunch in the trash, she heads out the door behind Lanie.

However, she wasn't looking up, so she didn't see that Lanie had stopped in front of her. Running into her friend, Kate finally looked up to see that there was a sign being held up. Looking around she finds a small group of the preppy theater bitches standing around the poster.

When Kate actually reads what is on the poster, she gasps.

 _Rick, while we may not have known each other long, will you escort me to Prom?_

Taking a step back, she turns to look at Rick, who just stood there with shock written on his face. But before Kate can even speak, one of the she-devils comes bouncing up in a short dress and her ridiculous heels.

"So Ricky, is it a yes?" Meredith asks in an annoyingly high pitched voice as she wraps her arms around his neck and bats her eyelashes.

"Uhh, yeah, I don't know." He says, still standing completely still, not knowing what to do.

"Yay!" Meredith says before pulling Rick's head forward and roughly attaching her lips to his as her small possy erupts in claps and cheers behind them.

Having seen enough, Kate quickly bows her head and walks unnaturally fast away from the scene. But leaving so soon, she missed the way Rick pushed Meredith off of him before pulling her aside. So whatever was said between the two, stayed between the two.

#######

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

Rolling her eyes, Kate sets her water down before picking up her phone. Looking up when she hears her teammates walking towards her, Kate smiles before unlocking her phone.

 _Kate! Kate! Kate! Answer your phone!_

Quickly typing out a message back to Lanie, she puts it back in her bag as girls started to take their seat around them and put their sweats on. Not taking another look at her phone, Kate stands up to join her team as they start their warm up as scheduled.

Twenty minutes later, and almost two miles run, they take their seats in the middle of the track to stretch out their muscles and focus their minds on the task ahead. The final event of their rivalry track meet.

The sound of the gun goes off as the first leg of the relay team sprints out of the blocks heading around the first bend of the track. Still wearing her sweats, Kate stands at the starting line waiting for the first of her teammates to finish her leg before handing off the baton to the second.

When the third leg of her team receives the baton, Kate strips out of her sweats and takes her place at the finish line. Just over a minute passes before the baton is in her hands and she takes off. Rounding the first of two curves, Kate lets her strides even out and lengthen. But with only two hundred yards left before the finish line, and her competitor within striking distance, Kate puts herself into the next gear. The finish line getting closer and closer, Kate knows that while she is pushing herself to the max, so is the other runner. But being the person she is, Kate hated losing. Kicking herself into another gear, one higher than she had ever tried before, Kate manages to close the distance between herself and the other runner before overtaking the competition and crossing the finish line first.

As her team wraps her in a celebratory hug, Kate catches her breath before there is a series of coughs and her team arches around her. Curious about her giggling teammates, Kate looks past them to see a couple of the football guys heading towards them with their hands behind their backs.

When they get close enough, they all stop. One by one, each steps up to Kate holding a baton of their own. Each with a single word scratched into the metal cylinder. So one by one, Kate forms a sentence.

 _Will you go to Prom with me?_

Looking up she sees one of the wide receivers holding one final baton out as he asks, "Kate, will you go to Prom with me? Please?"

"Standing there in shock, she looks around to see that everyone, even their rival school's entire track team watching and waiting for an answer.

"Yes." she says quietly before he pulls her into a small hug. Smiling to herself, Kate sees this a chance to prove to her mom, to her friends, but mostly to herself, that she didn't have feelings for a certain brown haired, blue eyed Casanova.

#########


	8. Chapter 8

Okay, this is somewhat rewritten because after rereading it for like the thousandth time, I decided that it was too cliche and I hated it. I mean, I don't really love this chapter right now, as it kinda takes the story in a different direction than I had planned, but I think that it might work out better in the end. I hope some of you guys agree too, maybe not right now, but hopefully in a few chapters. If I ever get them written, hah. I'm kidding. Not really.

Overall, this story is kinda not really similar to my high school experience. Some of the things that take place have either actually happened to me or was something my teenage mind wished had happened during high school. *Cough Cough* Getting asked to a dance *Cough Cough*

But while those days are behind me, I thought that they would fit pretty well into this story. If you guys hate it, let me know! I want you guys to enjoy reading this story, so please let me know what you guys really don't like. Well besides the obvious parting of Castle and Beckett at the moment. But I hope to get them together soonish, I think.

CHAPTER 8

##########

Later on that night, Kate closes her spanish textbook before tossing it to the end of her bed. Picking up her phone she sees she has a new message.

 _Hi._

Smiling, she responds to Tom, _Hey_.

Minutes or hours go by, she couldn't tell you which, but in that time, they had made all the necessary plans for the night of Prom. The limo was going to be ordered by one of Tom's teammates, then they were all going to dinner as a group before finally heading to the dance.

Setting her phone down, Kate entered her closet to change into her pajamas before jumping back into bed. She hears her phone vibrate, so Kate leans over to her nightstand to find a text from Rick.

 _So, I heard Demming asked you to Prom? R_

 _Yeah, he did. It was really sweet. K_ She replies thinking back to her crossing the finish line and seeing his teammates standing there.

 _Well, I'm happy for you. R_

Reading his reply, Kate smiles, biting her lower lip before typing out a message, plugging in her phone, and curling up in her blankets to fall asleep. His reply doesn't come until after she had fallen asleep.

 _Of course, I'll always save a dance for you._

########################

The night of Prom came around all too quickly for Kate, and before she knew it, Tom was leading her out onto the dance floor. As they moved their way around the floor, with Kate's arms wrapped around the back of Tom's neck, she couldn't help but feel warm in his embrace.

Smiling up at him, she says, "This is really nice Tom."

"Yeah it is." He says smiling down at her before continuing, "I'm really glad you said yes."

"But why me?" Kate wonders out loud.

"Why not? You are hot!" Tom claims, "You are like really, really hot. Plus you are an insane athlete, why wouldn't I want to ask you?"

Blushing, Kate dips her head using her hair to hide her face.

"You thirsty?" Tom asks as he takes a step back and holds out a hand for her to take. Leading her towards a table, Kate sees Meredith.

"Hey Tom." Kate says stopping, She looks over at Meredith once more before turning back to her date and saying, "I'll be right back. Get me that drink?"

He nods before heading off to get some punch as Kate makes her way to Meredith.

"Hey Meredith, I haven't seen Rick. Do you know where he is?" Looking up at Kate, Meredith just laughs in her face before rolling her eyes. Scrunching her forehead, Kate asks, "What?"

"Rick didn't come." Meredith spits, "He said no when I asked. Said that he had better things to do than go to a stupid dance with someone other than his true friends. So if you are looking for him here, good luck."

With that said, Meredith takes her leave in search of a poor, unsuspecting soul to claim as hers for the night. That left Kate standing there with her mouth open in shock. This is how Tom found her a minute later when he came up to her holding two cups.

"Here, I got you some 7UP, I hope that it is-" He stops when he sees the sadness in her eyes, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, no. I'm fine." Kate says shaking her head and smiling up at him.

"What happened?" Tom asks, setting the drinks down and putting his hands at her elbows. He rubs up and down her arms from her shoulders to her elbows.

"Just a broken promise." Kate says taking one of his hands and leading him back to the dance floor, determined to forget about who she thought was her best friend.

####################

*Meanwhile*

It was the bottom of the 8th, the Mets were down by two with six outs left. The Dodgers had put up a good fight. Javi and Kevin had headed up to get some peanuts which left Rick to sit there and watch as the Kiss Cam highlighted all the happy couples in the stadium.

Spaced out, Rick didn't realize the boys had come back until there was a bag of peanuts landing in his lap. "Thanks guys." He says opening the bag and popping one in his mouth. Turning his attention back to the game, he misses the short conversation between the boys that mostly contained head shrugs and eye movement.

Finally, Kevin coughed before turning towards Rick and asking, "So you ever going to tell us why you said no to Meredith?"

Leaning back in his seat, Rick rests his head on the headrest and closes his eyes before speaking, "I just didn't want to." Shrugging, Rick tries to turn back to the game, but the boys have another idea.

"Come on man, it's just us." Javi chimes in. Rick rolls his eyes and once again tries to turn back to the game, but the boys keep poking and prodding at him.

Finally snapping, Rick hisses, "Because people always leave." Quickly standing, he mutters something about the bathroom before heading up the aisle.

Ryan and Javi turned their heads back to the game for maybe one batter before looking back at each other and saying, "What?," at the same time.

Quickly pulling out his phone, Javi shoots off a quick message before turning back to Ryan and saying, "Lanie. Maybe she knows something?"

Ryan nods just as Rick starts to make his way down their row.

"So, what did I miss?" Rick asked as he takes his seat.

"Not much, Kershaw just struck out two more of our guys." Kevin says as he eats his last peanut then looking over Javi's shoulder at his messages.

 _Hey chica, you know anything about the thing between Rick and Beckett? J_

 _Seriously? You interrupt my girl's night with my mom for this? L_

 _Come on chica. Help a brother out. J_

 _Uggh. Fine. Look I don't really know if there is anything going on. I know Kate used to have feelings for him, but after the whole suspension thing happened, I don't know anymore? Why? I thought she went to Prom with Tom. L_

 _Hey Lanie, this is Kevin now by the way. Javi and I asked Rick why he didn't go with Meredith. You know what he said? He said, and I quote, "Because people always leave."_

 _And you both just assume he's talking about Kate? L_

 _Chica, who else could it be? I mean come on. Our boy barely has enough time to spend with us, let alone another girl. He was always with Becks. J_

 _Wow. I mean I guess I can see it now. Huh, weird. L_

Looking at his best friend, Kevin raises his eyebrows before looking at Rick who was watching the game, but not really enjoying it. He turns his attention back to the game when Javi does, and for the rest of the game neither of them can really enjoy it with the new revelation they made.

######################


	9. Chapter 9

I want to say thank you for the reviews, they will help. But I do have to say to the guest who said that I had to be no older than 14, that is untrue. I am not going to tell you how old I am, because that's personal, but I can assure you that I am not 14. And I just want to clear up that Kate was not crying over her feeling for Rick, she was crying because she thought she loved Will and he left. Just wanted that to be clear.

CHAPTER 9

################

After Prom, things between the group had been a little off. Besides lunches, they did not spend much time all together. And besides that, Rick had been acting a little more depressed than usual while Kate was basically nonexistent.

For the past couple of weeks, Kate had left lunch halfway through every day to spend time with Tom, who turned out to not be just a Prom date. And every time Kate would duck out, so would , the group had had enough. There were only a few days left before the summer break, so when Kate took her leave to meet up with Tom, the boys and Lanie stopped Rick from leaving as well.

"So, where do you go every day when you leave?" Javi asks, leaning back in the chair and putting his feet up on the desk in front of him.

"What do you mean?" Rick asks shifting his gaze between the boys and Lanie, who was sitting on top of one of the desks with her arms crossed.

"Seriously Rick?" Lanie spits out before standing up, "Every day when Becks leaves, so do you. And we all know that you aren't with her, so where do you go?"

Sighing and hanging his head, Rick takes one step back to lean against the cabinets that lined the bottom of the whiteboard at the front of the classroom. Slowly rubbing his hand through his hair a few times before sighing once again and saying, "When I leave, I meet up with Mr. Pfeifer."

"The senior english teacher?" Ryan asks as he takes another bite of his sandwich.

"Why?" Lanie asks.

"He's been helping me with something." Rick admits. "Look, I have to go. I'll tell you anything you want to know later. I promise."

After receiving nods from all three of his friends, Rick picks his bag back up and heads out of the room.

########################

Unfortunately, the group didn't get a chance to sit down and spend some time together until the day before finals started. But since Kate was spending time "studying" with Tom, it was just the four of them. They had taken up most of Rick's living room with all of their textbooks and notebooks spread around on the floor.

"So Rick?" Lanie starts when he comes back into the room holding a couple of bottles of water. "You ready to talk?"

"Uh, yeah I guess. What do you want to know?" He shrugs before handing a bottle to each of his friends. All three of their mouths open and close a couple of times before Rick starts to laugh, "Well don't all speak at once."

"Haha, very funny." Javi says rolling his eyes. "So what are you doing with Pfeifer?"

"He's been helping me with a project." Rick says vaguely as he shrugs his shoulders.

"And what project would that be?" Lanie asks waving her hands around a little trying to get Rick to spit it out.

"I wrote a book." He shrugs his shoulders, as he opens his notebook again and flips until he finds the right page, "Hey Kev, what are we supposed to do for the project for Mr. S?"

"Cell City. Ya know, find stuff that represents each part of the cell." Ryan reads from his own notes while constructing the nucleus of his own city. "Wait, you wrote a book?"

"Yeah."

"Okay," Lanie says dragging out the end of the word, hoping that Rick would pick up on what she was hinting out. Unfortunately he didn't. "What's it about?"

"It's a murder mystery."

Looking around, Rick sees that everyone had stopped working and was just staring at him. "What?"

"Why a murder mystery?" They all ask at basically the same time before looking at each other in surprise at their coordination.

"I don't know really." Rick says. He picks up one of Kevin's notebooks hoping it would help him construct his city since let's face it, Rick never took notes. "I just kinda started writing."

"What's it about?"

Pulling out his laptop, Rick opens up a new document before he starts typing out Kevin's notes. "Uh, well there's this homicide detective. She's, uh, she's extraordinary. Tall, beautiful, smart, professional, sassy, yet perfect in every way. Except she's got a past. Past baggage that drives her to be who she is. Drives her to do what she does. Anyways, she catches a murder, pretty gruesome, and the book kinda just goes through the case. There are twists and turns and such."

Rick turns his attention back to the laptop as he continues to type up the notes, making his own notes as he goes, planning out how he's gonna do his project. He manages to finish the notes before the next round of questions start.

"How is Pfeifer involved with this?"

Closing the notebook and handing it back to Kevin, Rick answers the question, "Well I have Houston for freshman english. We had an assignment and I turned in one of the chapters from the book. At first it was just something I was messing around with, but after she gave us back out papers, she told me that she gave it to a couple of the senior english teachers. Pfeifer was one of them. Houston told me a couple weeks back that he had wanted to talk to me about it. So I met with him and he offered to help me get it published once it was finished."

"Wow." Javi said with wide eyes as he twirls his pen in between two of his fingers.

The group got back to their work quietly and it lasted that way for an hour or two before Lanie spoke up and asked the one thing that all three of them had on their mind.

"Does Beckett know?"

Rick looks up from the city hall he was building with confused eyes, "Does she know about what?"

"Your book," Lanie starts before asking another question. "What is it called anyways?"

"Uh, well I don't have a title really right now, but I was thinking _In Hail of Bullets_." Rick says using his hands to emphasize the title. "But as for the Beckett, why would she know?"

It was the boys and Lanie's turn to be confused. Finally it was Lanie to speak up, "She's your best friend. Why wouldn't she know?"

"Was." Rick said before closing his laptop along with the rest of his books and notes.

"What do you mean was?" The boys asked pausing in their own work.

"Be honest with yourselves. Beckett hasn't really been any of our friends, let alone my best friend for some time now. We just didn't want to admit it." With those words spit out, Rick stood up and headed towards the stairs that led to his room. Turning back for only a few seconds, Rick said, "You guys are more than welcome to stay as long as you want, but I'm done for the night."

#################

What was once known as the fab five was now only the troubled three. The first casualty was Kate Beckett, who was lost when a promise was broken. The second was Rick Rodgers, who was lost when he broke said promise. All that was left of the fab five were the troubled three, who vowed to never, ever let anything happen to what was left of them.

And this is how the fab five parted for the summer. The troubled three together for a summer of good memories, Kate running around the city with the school's hottest football boy, and the writer, who was lost in his own words, locked in his room determined to finish his very first novel.

####################


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Previously on The Story of Us…..

Kate danced the night away with Tom at Prom. Rick broke a promise. The fab five has dwindled to the troubled three. Rick has started writing a book. The boys went to a baseball game with Rick. Finals week has come and gone, and they all prepared themselves for the upcoming summer break.

#################

And now, now school is starting up again in two weeks. Kate and Tom still going strong, Kate excited about the upcoming soccer season and Tom struggling to put football ahead of Kate. Rick's first novel has been published, but he never told anyone. Lanie and Javier started dating mid summer, leaving Kevin to be a third wheel.

############

With only two weeks before the torture of high school begins again, Tom and the rest of the football team decide to throw an end of summer bonfire at the beach. And being his girlfriend, Kate helps the team set everything up.

As they get the DJ station set up and start playing tunes, Tom pulls Kate aside before it gets too crowded and loud for them to talk. They walk hand in hand for a couple hundred feet down the beach before they pass a small patch of grass with beautiful purple and white flowers and taking a seat on a couple of giant rocks.

Taking Kate's hand, Tom takes a deep breath before opening his mouth and closing it again. Sensing her boyfriends nervousness, Kate lays her other hand overtop of the hand that is holding her other one. Then she speaks, "Are you okay Tom?"

Tom looks up at her, sees the concern written in her eyes and starts to speak, "Kate, you know that we have had an amazing time together this summer." He pauses trying figure out exactly how he wants to say this, but the time he takes to pause scares her.

The pause makes her think that he is breaking up with her. So she slips both of her hands out from his before letting the tear run down her cheek and saying, "You're breaking up with me aren't you?"

"What?! No!" Tom says immediately, looking up at her again he sees the fear in her eyes. "No, God no, Kate."

"Then what is this?" Kate asks as she pulls her hands away again when he tries to hold them.

Hanging his head a little, he rubs the back of his head before taking yet another deep breath to calm his nerves and starts to explain. "I'm sorry, I'm just nervous. This isn't turning out how I wanted it too."

"What are you talking about Tom?" Kate asks, feeling a mixture of fear and confusion. "If you aren't breaking up with me, then what is going on?"

"I- I uh found this little patch of flowers a while ago and I thought it was beautiful. They kind of reminded me of you and so I just really wanted to show you them." He says nervously, "Oh god, I've never done this before and it is was supposed to be super romantic, with the sun setting and these beautiful flowers behind us."

Taking his hand, Kate squeezes it before putting her free hand on his cheek softly to lift his eyes to hers, "What was supposed to be romantic?"

"I- I uh- I-" Tom tries as he can feel the sweat drip down his forehead as well as down his back and he can feel his palms become clammy.

"Just spit it out Tom!" Kate says laughing as she runs her thumb back and forth on his cheek.

"I love you." He says a little too fast. But it's out there. He can't take it back.

Afraid of her reaction, Tom looks down at the sand with his eyes closed. He doesn't see Kate's eyes go wide, he doesn't see her mouth hanging open, and he doesn't see the corners of her lips curve upwards.

But he does feel her squeeze his hand and he does feel her lift his eyes back to hers. Their eyes meet and he can see her fighting back tears before her eyes slip close and her lips touch his.

Pulling away from his soft, tender lips, Kate opens her eyes again, meeting his, and saying, "I love you too."

"What?"

"I love you." Kate says again, this time more confident and with a bigger smile.

Seeing all of her pearly whites, Tom's own smile grows before he pulls her in for another slow, yet sweet kiss. His hands make their way up to hold the back of her neck in place, while hers start to run through the short hair at the back of his own neck.

Pulling apart, Kate stands up and pulls Tom along with her as she starts to head back down the beach to the party. But Tom stops her.

"Come on Tom, we don't wanna miss the party." Kate says squeezing his hand.

"Wait" He says putting his free hand into his jeans pocket. Looking down at the sand and closing his eyes for a couple of seconds, he gathers the courage to say the other thing he needed to say, "There's something else you should know."

Taking a step back towards him, Kate nods her head before pulling his other hand out of his pocket and holding it.

"Last week, Coach Johnson pulled me aside. He hasn't exactly been pleased with my performance on the field lately." Tom starts saying looking down at the sand every couple of words because he knows that this might just crush her. "He gave me an ultimatum."

"An ultimatum about what Tom?" Kate asks shifting her weight back and forth between her legs.

"Football or you."

Slowly slipping her hands from his, she nods her head before looking out at the ocean and crossing her arms in front of her chest. "You chose football. So what was that back there then? Huh? Tell me you love so that you can make this easier on yourself? Well thanks, but I don't need your pity."

Giving him one last quick look, Kate takes a couple of steps towards the party. She makes it about fifteen yards away before she hears,

"I chose you."

Freezing, Kate closes her eyes and lets the tears fall before slowly turning to face him. Looking up to find his eyes, Kate is suddenly overwhelmed with confusion and a small amount of hurt. "You what?"

"I chose you."

"No." Kate says shaking her head as he quickly closes the distance between them. "No. You can't choose me."

"Why not?" Tom asks lifting his arms up in the air, "You were just pissed at the thought of me not choosing you, so why can't I choose you?"

"Because football is your life Tom." Kate raises her voice. "Football is your dream. It always has been."

"Dreams change Kate." He says taking one of her hands into his own hoping that things were going to be okay. "You are my dream now."

But Kate still pulls her hand away from his before taking a couple of steps backwards and saying, "No. Tom, I love you. I love you so much, but you can't do this. You need to choose football. I'm sorry."

Quickly turning around, Kate starts to run down the beach away from Tom, who is standing there in shock. His eyes are sad, the smile is gone, and a single tear rolls down his cheek.

###########################################


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

##############

 _Ring. Ring. Ring._

Three bells. Three bells had rung. Standing up, Kate picks her bag up, slings it over her shoulder and heads into her first period class. Looking around the room she finds a desk that isn't surrounded by some of her fellow classmates, so she takes her seat and opens up a book.

She was so engrossed in the story that she never heard the second set of bells ring, nor did she notice that the rest of the class had filed in and taken their own seats. She especially didn't notice that directly across the room from her seat sat her former best friend.

What she did notice however was the man who sat down directly to the right of her. Well, it took him a couple of seconds to get her attention, but she did eventually notice him.

"Kate, please talk to me." He pleads.

"What do you want Tom?" She asks, trying not to sound so hurt.

"I want us to be okay again."

"I don't think we ever will be." She admits before the kid infront of her turns around to pass back a stack of textbooks, which she then proceeds to take one and past the rest on. "I told you to choose football and I meant it."

"I did choose football Kate, but I also chose you." Tom says as his own stack of textbooks comes down his row. "I talked to Coach. I told him that I wanted to choose you, but you made me choose football. He wasn't expecting that answer. To be honest, he thought I would have chosen football over you in a split second."

"What's your point Tom?" Kate says looking up to the front of the class as their World History teacher, Mr. Paz, turned the overhead projector onto display his syllabus.

"We made a deal. Coach Johnson said that I could disregard the previous ultimatum if I agreed to spend three lunches a week either on the field or in the weight room." Tom says looking back and forth from Kate and Mr. Paz. "So what do you say?"

"What do I say Tom?" Kate hisses quietly, "Tom, you know how I feel about you. But I can't take this dream away from you."

"But you're not Kate, I still get to play football." He pleads, suddenly not caring about the class he is sitting in. "Kate, please, let's be great again."

She is about to open her mouth to answer but is cut off by Mr. Paz, who has found their discussion distracting to the rest of the class. "Mr. Demming, Miss Beckett, if I hear one more peep out of you it's a detention slip for the both of you."

Nodding their heads, they turn back to face the teacher A couple of minutes had passed in the time it took Mr. Paz to go over his policy regarding late work when Tom felt a hand brush his. He looked down to find a small sticky note stuck to his left hand. Picking it up, he sees her handwriting.

 _Okay._

#########################################

Kate's sophomore year schedule seemed easier to her than her freshmen year. But while she knows that she should be taking the AP classes if she even wants a shot at getting into the Stanford Law program, she can't bring herself to change her schedule now.

After having World History first period with Tom, he walks her onto her Honors Chemistry Class. Giving her a tentative kiss on the cheek, Tom crosses the courtyard and enters his own Biology class. Kate smiles at his fading figure before opening the door and taking a seat in the second to last row of the classroom.

Not too long later, someone takes a seat next to her. She looks up to find someone that she hadn't thought about almost all summer. And so when Kate sees those eyes, she suddenly feels really bad.

"Lanie?" She asks tentatively, not knowing if they were still on the outs or not.

"Hey," Lanie responds smiling, before pushing a small strand of her newly dyed hair behind her ear. "How was your summer?"

"Uh, it was good. Tom and I spent some time up at my cabin." Kate said trying not to make it awkward, but failing miserably. "How was yours?"

"Oh it was same old same old. You remember?" Lanie asked, but never really gave Kate a chance to think about what there was to remember. "Spent the summer between the pool and the couch in Javi's basement while the boys played their video games."

Kate nods her head laughing while she remembers how her summers used to be spent with them once upon a time.

Just as the bell rings, one last person rushes into the room and takes the only remaining seat. The seat right behind Kate. Gasping quietly, Kate turns back towards the front of the classroom and focuses all her attention on the hair tie that she was wearing around her wrist.

Seeing her so uncomfortably, Lanie looks back to Rick and gives him a small smile before turning around in her own seat with a plan already starting to form in her mind.

After the bell rang, signalling the end of their second period, Kate packed her stuff up as quick as possible before she got the hell out of there. She had almost made it halfway down the hall before an arm grabbed hers. Twisting around she sees it was only Lanie.

"Do you want to have lunch with us?" Lanie asks hesitantly, "It's okay if you have plans with Tom, but it would be nice to see you again."

"I'd love to." Kate says shyly, "Tom has to spend a couple of lunches working out, so I'd love to eat with you again."

Letting go of Kate's arm, Lanie smiles before heading off to her next class.

#######################

As it turned out, that was the only class that Kate had with Lanie, she shared no classes with either Javier or Kevin, and she shared three with Rick Rodgers. She didn't really know why that bothered her, but it did.

Kate had not spoken to Rick coming on three months now, and the thing was, she didn't know if she was mad at him, or just disappointed. But that didn't really matter to her anymore, she was not friends with Rick Rodgers anymore.

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End file.
